Playtime Music Festival is a place for music to be enjoyed collectively. Throughout their ongoing 20 year run, countless memories of pure music have been made and cherished at Playtime Festival.
Fortunately, we were given a sneak preview of their festival by none other than Playtime Festival's Founder & Programmer, Natsagdorj "George" Tserendorj. Over the years, George has nurtured the music programming of the festival and has created a music-loving community that's here to stay.
Take a tour through the legacy of Playtime Music Festival below!
What do you think jump-started your interest to pursue something in the music business?
I always listened to music for as long as I could remember. I started selling CDs when I was 19, an economics student in the mid-90s. Soon founded my first company, Hi-Fi Records, the first chain record store in Ulaanbaatar. CD’s were very trendy items to own at the time.
What sort of music do you remember growing up around?
Mongolia was a sovereign socialist country between 1921-1992. The music censorship and anti-capitalist propaganda was part of my childhood. In the early 90s, we would wait the whole night on New Year Eve just to watch rare footage of western music on Russian state TV channels. German Euro Disco and Italo Disco were very popular in Mongolia during my childhood.
Artists such as Modern Talking, Bad Boys Blue, Sandra, Pupo, C.C.Catch were extremely popular. Not much choice really. Unfortunately, Mongolian youths of the ’70s and '80s never got to experience punk and new wave/post-punk era.
We would love a little introduction to your festival Playtime, its philosophy and how was it born?
Playtime Festival was born in 2002. The very first show was really small with only 5 bands and 300 attendees. I never thought at that time it would continue to become the big festival it is now. The five bands, who performed at the first Playtime were regulars that played at my rock club called “X-Nation”, which operated for about seven months. It was Mongolia’s first rock club. Very underground. After I closed the club, I thought why not do a show with the 5 bands, like a farewell thing. And that is how Playtime started.
Next year, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Playtime Festival. The festival’s mission now is to contribute to Mongolia's sustainable development goals by making Ulaanbaatar the leading music tourism city in Asia and contribute to developing the regional creative industry through contemporary music. As part of the goal to make a green festival, Playtime Festival educates festival-goers the concept of sustainability, which is still quite an unfamiliar concept here, that is why we create and promote important activities such as waste segregation and proper recycling.
What is the overarching ethos of Playtime Festival and how do you embody that throughout the festival?
Staying true to its music identity. The lifeblood of Playtime is its music program. The musical legacy of Playtime Festival is very prominent in Mongolia. Since its inception, the festival has always served as a catalyst for new music, by supporting and introducing many new Mongolian bands to the public. Playtime is the longest-running music festival in Mongolia.
It is an important cultural presence for the rock, metal, and indie music scene that began to spread in Mongolia in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many now well-known Mongolian bands have a long history with the festival. For the past few years, the festival has further broadened its scope of music, including rock, indie, folk, metal, jazz, electronic, and hip hop music.
What sort of experience do you want to capture for festival-goers and artists alike?
Music festival culture has only started emerging in Mongolia. Even though Playtime has been around for a while now, it is still far from touching the mainstream public audience. Playtime’s audience has always been relatively loyal niche individuals, who are often creative and music-loving people.
I want festival-goers to feel the overall experience of an outdoor camping music festival, what it provides, freedom of being yourself, new music, new fashion, new friends, good food, local drinks, and unforgettable life-lasting memories.
For artists and vendors, the event is an excellent learning experience, an opportunity to earn and build a network. The festival now hosts about 100 bands and artists, who perform across 10 stages for an audience of more than 50,000 over three days.
And for international folk, what do you think they will learn about Mongolia through your festival?
International folk will meet a relatively young and progressive Mongolian audience at Playtime and shall be pleasantly surprised by their music knowledge, genuine sympathy, and friendship. Playtime Festival is well-balanced in terms of size and comfort.
Not too big and not too small. Playtime Festival also provides a unique opportunity to capture a vibrant Mongolian music scene and after only a few days to experience the biggest celebration of Mongolian culture, Naadam celebration on July 11th. Playtime is usually held the weekend before Naadam. Mongolia also has so much to offer in terms of adventure and travel experience. Visiting nomad family, horse riding, Gobi desert, Khuvsgul Lake are just to name a few of attractions and places someone can do or visit.
What were the initial challenges can you recall in the early years of the festival? And what did you do to overcome those problems?
For many years, without much support from the government and sponsors, I took numerous financial and logistical risks to grow the festival. It wasn’t easy to bring well-known international artists to Playtime as Mongolia was relatively unknown to the international music community. So we had to work harder than others to get attention and book international artists, given our small market.
How has the festival experience developed over the years? What are the things that changed/augmented, but also, what are some of the things that have stayed the same?
In 2008, Playtime moved outdoors and has since been held in Hotel Mongolia Resort in Gachuurt Village, which is located 30 km from Ulaanbaatar. The festival has grown in its scale over the years from a local music festival to an international festival. It has expanded in terms of music genre and has more stages. Yo La Tengo, Mono, Envy, The Radio Dept., The Fin, Lite, Sunset Rollercoaster, The Wedding Present and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are some of the names who headlined Playtime Festival. More than 800 bands and artists from 20 countries have participated in the festival and received high praise from music lovers.
What sorts of planning goes into the music and artist curation every year?
The international artist curation starts in August. In November and December, we organize a series of open showcase events, open to all local new bands and DJs to participate. We aim to announce the first lineup around February after Lunar New Year celebrations. Every year, we try to book one legendary Mongolian band or artist to have them perform on Playtime’s main stage and deliver their music to the younger generation.
What are a few memories or moments from Playtime Festival that you’ll never forget?
One of my best memories is in 2014, it had rained non-stop for 3 days, and while soaking wet the audience sang along to songs of Joy Division and New Order as it was being performed by Peter Hook and The Light at 2am. They played for 2 hours. Another one is in 2013, MONO from Japan was closing the festival on Sunday evening with red lights on stage. Many of the audience were crying. It was a majestic performance, one of the best in the festival’s history.
We know Playtime is celebrating its 20 Year in 2021, congratulations! Do you have any special plans for the 20 edition and who are some of your dream artists to feature on your lineup? 😁
Thank you! This year, we are planning to do Playtime 2021 in early August. COVID vaccinations are on the way in Mongolia. The whole population is expected to be fully vaccinated by the end of July because we have a small population of around 3 million. However, this year it looks like we will have only local artists and local audiences at Playtime. We can say 2021 is going to be an exceptional year because of COVID.
So I want to celebrate the festival’s 20th anniversary in 2022. Next year, we expect to have The Libertines, Mono, Alcest, Motorama as headliners. And many other special bands and artists.
As a festival runner, what are some of your personal favorite festivals around the world? Or, what are some festivals that are on your bucket list?
I have visited Coachella twice, and been to Primavera and Fuji Rock to name a few. I loved all of them. Coachella's size and site arrangement seemed perfect. In the future I want to visit and experience Glastonbury, Roskilde, Transmusicales. Also, I would love to visit music festivals and events In Africa and Latin America.
Lastly, after each festival is over, what do you want your festival-goers and featured artists to remember from their time at Playtime Music Festival and in Mongolia?
I want them to remember everything! Music, people, food, sex, lines to toilets, bus ride to Gachuurt village and back to Ulaanbaatar after the festival on Monday morning.
